


This Is The World

by Monorail



Category: Nebula (Webcomic)
Genre: Alien Biology, Black Hole is a bad friend, Ceres gets Real Fucked Up, Drabble Series, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Jupiter's huge ego, Language Barrier, Memory Alteration, Mercury totally does not have a crush what are you talking about, Mind Manipulation, Sun's a time bomb waiting to go off, Unreliable Narrator, and until that time comes he's just kind of rude, wild speculation about Black Hole and the dwarf planets, wild speculation about Ceres
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-07-24 17:19:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 6,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7516678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monorail/pseuds/Monorail
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An attempt to write a drabble or more about every dynamic between the various characters of Nebula. <br/>(This is mostly not shipping.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Black Hole - Pluto

**Author's Note:**

> Characters are chosen by random generator; eventually, I hope to work through every combination of characters from each point of view.
> 
> (The title of this is fic from the poem "Our Eunuch Dreams" by Dyan Thomas.)

Pluto trusted her implicitly, believed in her so sincerely that it would actually hurt if Black Hole could still feel that way.

She couldn't, of course. No matter what the other dwarf planets _ **(** you said we were friends why are you doing this **[** it hurts it hurts let me go you're crushing me **{** remember that? remember when you said you loved me- **}** it hurts please please stop please i don't want **]** i don't understand) _ thought about it _**(** about her **[** you **{** us, now? **}])**_.

So Black Hole couldn’t say she felt much guilt at all when they set to work on him. Sowing the seeds of doubt in the rest of his planetary system, picking at all his insecurities **_(they don’t love you [they don’t care {leave them leave while you can}])_** was an entertaining distraction from the mundanities _**(** where are we **[** how far away are we **{** when can we go home **}** i can’t see anything **]** i can’t feel my hands **)**_ of her daily life.

It wasn’t friendship, exactly. To be friends required knowledge of her that Pluto- dear, sweet _**(** i think i hate him **)**_ , utterly naive Pluto simply didn’t have yet- after all, they hadn’t even officially met yet. _**[** are we your friends? **]**_ She hoped they could be friends, one day; she made plans for it. She hoped that one day she could be friends with _everyone_.

_**(** this isn’t fun anymore **[** but we aren’t alone **{** no one’s alone here **}** and that counts for something, right? **]** but i miss my own thoughts, i miss my own body, i miss- **)**_

It wasn’t not too bad, out in the void once you get used to the cold and the dark; the stars had overhyped it. Black Hole smiled, quiet and wide and spreading over their face like blood in water.

Nothing’s all that bad when you’ve got company calling! _**(** hell is other people; do you remember that, how we’d talked? **[** she said we were friends **]** you were the only one who laughed with me **{** you were the only one who said it was going to be okay **})**_

 ~~ ** _Misery loves company_**~~ , she thought, and for a moment things were quiet. Almost idly _**[{** she’s not that cruel she wouldn’t **}** you wanna bet? **]**_ , she wondered what Pluto would sound like, bleeding out. It was just curiosity; she had limited enough resources that she couldn’t just do _whatever_ she wanted whenever the urge struck her. Sometimes, a thought was just a thought. Still, she pockets it, tries to put it in a quiet corner of her mind where it won’t wander off. It was always good to have something to look forward to, and it wasn’t like Pluto would live forever _**([** will we? **{** how long has it been, Black Hole? **}]** you still think we’re alive in here? **)**_.

Still, in her own way Black Hole liked him. Pluto was all too eager to please and quick to trust, and it was trivially easy to establish power over him- all she had to do to him is leave him alone for a while, and he'd practically roll over and beg if it’d get her to talk to him again. Apparently loneliness felt worse after a taste of companionship. Things were simple, with him; almost too simple. Within a few centuries of talking to him Black Hole found herself moved almost to _**(** exasperation **[** affection **{** regret **}])**_ pity, Pluto was so guileless.

 _ **{** he just wants a friend. **}**_   ~~ ** _I know that._**~~

Pluto… was terribly easy to grow fond of, and even easier to manipulate. It was almost a mercy, what she was doing to him, _planning_ on doing to him. With her, at least she knew that he’d be safe from out-of-control stars and panicking planets. He wouldn’t be alone anymore, and isn’t that what he’d always wanted?

_**(** not like this **[** you **{** us, Black Hole **}])**_

And while his faith in the goodness in everyone, even the planetary system that had left him to fend for himself for so long, was amusing, it was also starting to get a bit old.

...Perhaps a visual aid would help her arguments sink in a bit.

 

 

 _ **(** oh god  **[** please no **{** you're not that cruel **}]**_ ** _)_ **  

~~**_You want to bet?_ ** ~~

 

 ~~~~Aloud, she told him,

"̴̛̭̹̳̘̯̯̞̠̮̹̩̞̣́͢͝Ǫ̸̵̥̼̠̥̱̟̭̹̤̬͚́ͅͅk̵̡͈̼͓̣a͏̶̣̳͓̦̫͉̞̘̀͜y̶͏̜̲̘̱̙.̶͕̘͎̮̮̝̱͖͘͟͟"̵̣͇̪̠̺̯̩̜̖̳̰͘͡  
---  
  
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter, and we've already got a challenge. How the heck do you write from the perspective of a being like Black Hole? I hope this was at least comprehensible even if it doesn't turn out to be accurate, and that the stuff with the other dwarf planets talking wasn't too confusing for everyone.
> 
> (And yes, the last line does mean that it takes place right before she summons Ceres and all hell breaks loose.)


	2. Uranus - Sun

Fifteen billions years in and Uranus still wasn't sure if they liked Sun or not. On one hand, he was their _boss_ ; whether they liked him or not they had to jump when he said jump, and that in itself would be enough to spur some amount of resentment even if he'd been a saint. (And, for the record, he wasn't. He really, really wasn’t.) They’d been around him ever since they’d started existing; they’d picked up a fair bit about him, even if the two of them had never been close- too many arguments that Sun decided to stick his filaments in, too many ‘thoughtless shenanigans’ that Uranus had involved themself in for them to ever be all that amicable. Whatever.

Sun kept a distance from everyone but Mercury, looked at Uranus like they were a comet that had shat on the moon whenever they tried to have a friendly conversation with Jupiter around him, and was always, _always_ spoiling for a fight. In his too many eyes (more than four was just plain showing off, come on) everything was always apparently either a matter of life and death or utterly beneath the notice of someone of his stature: either he didn't give a single fuck about what they did or he was going to burn this whole world to ashes over it.

Guy had no middle gears or sense that _he_ should compromise, and his tendency to take someone looking at him the wrong way as a challenge to his authority meant there were more than a few things to complain about. Point of fact, Uranus doubted that there was a single planet who _hadn't_ had the suicidal urge to punch him in the smug (and also superheated and radioactive) fucking face at least once in their life. But at the same time…

They kind of had to admire the way he could bend the rest of the world to his will just by glaring at it, the mixture of implacability and arrogance that keeping the rest of the them in line required. (They’d like if people jumped when _they_ said jump; they couldn’t truthfully say that’d they’d act like any less of an asshole if they were him.) Sun was the one person Uranus couldn’t talk over, and they kind of liked him for it, the same way they liked Neptune.

That, and no one could ever accuse Sun of being _weak_ : the guy needed them a lot less than they needed him, knew it, and that made his ‘I don't give a shit’ attitude seem less petulant and more intimidating. Uranus could appreciate raw strength; even if they themself preferred more subtle methods most times, there was something satisfying in walking where you wanted and seeing everyone scramble to get out for your way because they knew you weren’t going to slow down, not for them or anyone else. Sun just didn’t give a fuck, and Uranus respected that.

...Plus, in the fleeting moments before the steel walls of ‘professionalism’ came down again and wiped away any trace of a relatable personality, they thought they could see the person who'd earned Mercury’s devotion. Someone self-conscious and brash in equal measures, patient enough to listen to Mercury’s rants (Uranus had yer to be able to last listening to him whine for more than five minutes before snapping) and shift through for the grains of truth in them until he decided that he just wanted to _cut the bullshit_ already. (And who, for all his talk of politeness, never seemed to care enough about that to actually put in the effort required to address other people by name.)

He was someone who was willing to kill to protect a group of people he wasn't even the same _species_ as, and Uranus was probably always going to remember the scent of their own blood mixed with the acrid smell of their attacker’s flesh burning away at Sun’s fingertips.


	3. Jupiter- Earth

“What are you doing?”

“Something clearly beyond your comprehension. Begone.”

“Is it something with your moons?”

Jupiter sighed, atmosphere whistling around his head. “Obviously.”

From the corner of his eye he could see Earth brighten, bizarre gold pseudo-auroras gleaming where her skin was shadowed. “What are you doing with your moons?”

“I am ranking them.”

“Oh,” she said, and for another few minutes was thankfully quiet as he squinted at each moon in turn. “What are you ranking them by?”

Jupiter felt irritation heat his atmosphere, the colored bands across it thickening. Always with the questions, this one. “A variety of things. Size. Mass. Magnetic field. Geologic activity. Distance.”

“Huh. That sounds really neat!”

Earth remained beside him, peering curiously at the collection of moons spread out before him; only the pride at the clear awe his moons inspired stopped him from commanding her to leave. A king must be gracious to all his subjects- even ones as nosey and irritating as Earth.

“How many of them do you have, Jupiter?” she asked, again interrupting his studious contemplation. The sheepish smile he got in return for his glare was completely unsatisfactory as an apology to someone of his stature.

“Sixty-three, if it truly matters to you,” he told her, unable to hold back the justifiable pride in his voices, his frustration with her interruptions fighting with the satisfaction of seeing her so clearly interested. As rude and lacking in common respect as Earth could be, it was gratifying to see one of these lumps of rock he was obliged to call fellows take notice of his actions. As such, he felt compelled to allow her to stay: her presence, while not ideal, was less irritating than some certain others he could name who took undue interest in his work (certain others who paraded about in tacky red coats), and after all, _noblesse oblige_. Out of the vast goodness of his heart, Jupiter would humor her for a while more.

“How do you keep track of them all?” Earth asked, her single moon floating slowly about her head.

“They are my moons,” he said with a shrug. “I pay attention. But that is part of the reason I am now ranking them: so that I may keep easier track of them.”

“Are you going to give them names?”

Jupiter gave her a withering glare, which she just responded to with an awkward smile. Would it be rude to call her an ignorant water-head? Probably.

“You are an ignorant water-head. They are _moons_. They do not need names.”

“Yeah, but I mean- wouldn't that help you keep them separate?”

“I am giving them designations. This one,” he fondly patted the largest, nearly the size of Mercury’s head, “is Jupiter III.”

“...You're naming them all after yourself?” Earth asked, half-smiling at him. He frowned.

“Obviously.” Jupiter turned to look at her, and made a lazy shooing motion with his hand. Her incredulity was starting to grate, and there was still much left to do. Even his patience was not infinite. “Now, leave me to my work.”

“But I-”

“Find someone else to bother,” he snapped, straightening up to emphasize to her how far below him she was, in every sense.

“Well, I… Okay, bye Jupiter,” she said, voice self-pitying as he turned away and waited for her to drift off to go badger her sister or her neighbor. “I'll just talk to you later. When you aren't so busy.”

“Goodbye, Earth,” he said without looking up from his moons, and felt the tug of her gravity beside him fade away as she left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Jupiter III" is Ganymede. The naming scheme of "Jupiter #" was what was used for it and its fellow large moons of Jupiter by their discover, Galileo Galilei, with individual names for moons only becoming a regular thing after moons were also found around Saturn and people realized that there were just too darn many of them to keep track of with numerals alone.
> 
> The idea of Jupiter deciding to name them all after himself was too perfect, though.


	4. Sun - Mars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might be... confusing. I wanted to try and write Sun (who is, canonically, a different species from the rest of the solar system in addition being under a lot of strain) with more of a disjointed-sounding narration. There's no personal pronouns used in his narration at all, and proper names are only used in dialogue. 
> 
> Hopefully, it's clear enough to follow despite that.

“Sun!”

Blink, turn head. Look over at the planet- visibly rocky, torn cape, spikes, grating voice. Fairly easy one to recognize, even when distracted.

Ask, without really asking. “What is it.”

Irritating. _Sound_ irritated, arms and neck flaring brighter. Take a breath, hiss out through skin as smoke. Supposed to be responsible. Should have more composure than this. Shouldn’t seem so--

“I, uh. Wanted to talk to you, Sun.”

The planet looks caught-off guard; hadn’t actually expected an answer, probably. Fight down a laugh, chest momentarily feeling light. Shouldn't laugh. Shouldn’t be rude.

Just tilt head instead, lean down a bit to get on the planet’s level. Don't change expression. “And what did you want to say?”

The planet shrugs, bony hands opening and closing purposelessly. “I’ve just been… Wanting to catch up with you. Make sure everything’s okay.”

That's… Odd. Very odd, and very out of character, and altogether very suspicious. Glance around for snickering companions lurking nearby- don't think any of the planets would be reckless enough try and mock, but can't immediately discard the thought. _Detests_ rudeness, lack of respect.

But, no. It's just the one planet (rocky, reddish-orange and becaped) looking over and frowning. With a look of... concern? (Reading expressions on faces that don't shift, flicker, like own does isn't a natural skill. Has had to have a lot of practice.)

Huh.

Shift back a bit, get some more distance (can't control the burn rate, _need_ more distance for everyone's safety), say “Everything is,” and it's not really a lie. (Don't like to lie, to the planets. Always try best not to have to.) Nothing's happened, and nothing is going to. It's all under control.

The planet keeps frowning. Starts to say, “Are you sure-” and stops abruptly.

Take a deep breath, concentrate on keeping flames on skin steady instead of billowing up; the planet finches back anyway. Too angry, and got there too fast. Temper is too close to the surface; doesn't take much to kick up like so much dust. Used to take more; used to have more breathing room between simple irritation and actively wanting to aggress.

(Hunger gnaws, in back of throat and deep of chest. Exacerbates everything, and being around any of the planets exacerbates the hunger.)

“ _Yes_ , Mars. I actually am.” Grit the words out, feel heat build in forearms, fire spiking and twisting around vulnerable joints (wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees), only tamped down to semblance of order by clothes.

“I know. I'm just…” The planet backs up, mantel rising and falling rapidly. Pants from heat, like a comet. Contempt, frustration scratch like a cough at back of throat. Angry at self, the group of planets, all of the above.

“I'm just wanted to be sure that someone hadn't gotten on your nerves or that one of us did something wrong, Sun.”

“You haven’t.” Snap the words, and the subsequent flinch from the planet is maddening to see. Teeth itch. Want to bite down. No. Don’t want to. Don’t, don’t.

Snarl, flaring bright.

Want to but don’t do it.

“Sun?”

Blink, focus again. The planet’s voice is high, thready with nerves. Hands are pulling cape tighter across shoulders, knuckles paling with polar ice.

Bare teeth really without meaning to, and the planet’s eyes get pin-point pupils. Doesn’t run, but looks like like an effort not to. Flames drift into longer, jagged spikes, heat spreading unevenly through. Require a moment in order to recognize the feeling as regret.

(Still hungry.)

“It’s got nothing to do with any of you.” Bury hands in pockets, lean forward just enough so that flyaway ends of filaments starts to singe the cape. Too frustrated, too worried to be tactful.

“Now _leave_ , Mars.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place sometime before comic 7; I don't know if Sun was actually willing to interact with him even this much or if he just completely ignored him during the times that Mars tried to talk to him.
> 
> (Grammar side note: Sun uses the imperative mood to refer to his own actions; when referring to things besides himself, he uses simple present tense.)


	5. Saturn - Uranus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Space bureaucracy! Because that's what people want, right?

### Incident Reporting Form

Use this form to report any workplace accident, incident, injury, close call, or illness.

Return completed form to Management.

 

**This is documenting an:**

 

☐ Lost time ☐ Injury ☑ Incident ☐ Close call ☐ Observation

 

**Details of beings injured or involved**

 

Being completing report: _Saturn_

Being(s) involved: _Uranus_

Date: _Stardate -309943.47526636213_

 

**Event Details**

Date of event: _Stardate -309943.8031139016_

Location of event: _Orbit of Saturn_

Witnesses: _Unsure if any_

 

 **Description of events** (describe tasks being performed and sequence of events)

 

_The usual; a sequence of intense conversation culminating in my eventual surrender of personal property to my present-day neighbor._

_In this case, Uranus took it upon themself to commandeer a number (27) of my moons, despite my protests._

_It was quite distressing._

_While I do not know if this report will actually be_ ~~ _turned in_~~ _read, much less how it_ ** _could_** _be,_ _considering (with all due respect) the apparent flammability of paper, I would like to formally register my complaints against the continued unchecked aggression of Uranus._

_If they could be reprimanded and told formally to cease strong-arming moons from bystanders through a combination of intimidation and psychological warfare, it would be greatly appreciated by me, Jupiter, and the world at large._

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


*If more space is required, please use the back of this sheet

 

 **Was event/injury caused by an unsafe act (activity or movement) or an unsafe condition (void-related or normal)?** Please explain:

  
_Uranus_ **_is_ ** _an unsafe condition._


	6. Venus - Earth

“How have you been, Earth?” Venus asked her, and Earth immediately brightened. Literally- they could see parts of her surface start glowing that weird neon gold that she'd gotten the past couple centuries.

“I’ve been doing good!”

“Really?” Venus asked, their atmosphere swirling uneasily as they looked at their sister. She seemed okay, physically, but… “You sure?”

“Yep. And I was right- Mars isn’t that bad, he’s just grumpy sometimes,” Earth assured them, and Venus managed to resist the urge to quirk a tectonic plate at that. They loved their sister to bits, they really did, but even they sometimes wanted to just throttle her in her sleep to get some _quiet_ around here. “So I’m giving him some space right now, but we’re keeping an eye out for each other.”

“Because of the... thing?” Venus asked, and Earth smiled awkwardly.

“Well, Mars is worried.” Earth shrugged, her moon cycling cheerfully around her head. “I’d be a pretty bad friend if I just ignored him.”

(Once this all blew over, Venus was going to have a pretty serious talk with Mars, and just how he thought this whole ‘friend’ thing worked if he thought he could tell Earth to go jump in a lake until he thought he needed her help. Venus wasn’t going to _make_ anyone be Earth’s friend, but like hell were they going to let some half-naked dork in a cape take advantage of their sister’s good nature.)

“You worried about it yourself, Earth?”

“Not _really_. I know Mars is worried, but… I trust Sun to do the right thing, in the end. I trust us all. I think that if we all try and help out a bit, and keep an eye on each other, we’ll be okay,” Earth told them, her voice painfully earnest. “I don’t think we need to be so afraid of what’s out there.”

Venus sighed.

“Heard anything new from the voices?” they asked, regretting it when Earth’s face shuttered, swirling clouds drifting across to hide her expression.

“No. I don’t… I don’t really want to talk about that, okay?” she told them, her moon floating to hang motionlessly somewhere behind and above her head.

“Right. Sure. Just…” They trailed off frustratedly, burying their hands in their pockets as they tried to think of something that would actually get through Earth’s thick crust. She might’ve been older, and taller, and had a damn powerful arm (Venus thought they still might have the marks on their surface from where she had nailed them in the face by accident), but…

She was their sister, and she was hearing voices in her head while Sun was having a nervous breakdown and something was **_watching_ ** them. Venus worried for her.

“Just stay out of trouble, alright?” they asked her, and even though Earth looked like she was just humoring them (she probably was) she agreed.

  
“I’ll be fine, Venus. I promise: we'll all be okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that Venus might very not have tectonic plates in reality, but consider it an artistic license.


	7. Ceres - Saturn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forewarning: there are serious implications of Black Hole screwing with Ceres' memories and mental state, as well as general creepy/invasive imagery about her control of them in this chapter.

~~There was a planet.~~

There was no planet; there was Ceres and there was Void, and they could barely (why was it so hard to) remember when it had been otherwise.

They heard nothing, saw nothing but tiny (no, no, they were not small, they knew that they were actually-) pinpoints of light that they could block away with a single motion of their arm. Sometimes they chose to do so. Sometimes they did not.

A quick wave to block it, then let it shine again. A quick wave. A quick wave. Then three slow ones. Then the quick ones again. And then they would repeat, the faint light gleaming on the glossy surface of their (skin, not a) suit in a way that reminded them of nothing at all.

When they felt odd (when they started feeling like _them_ ) Ceres entertained themself with this game; eventually the feelings always (were choked off again at the source, strangled until they) faded.

They were glad.

~~They were not glad.~~

Ceres was not lonely because there was always Void, surrounding them like a gentle ocean, letting them float and watch the points of light fade in and out and (never actually) think. Sometimes it almost seemed like Void was in their head too, holding up their thoughts and sloshing around when they tried to (run, to escape,  or even just) move too quickly.

They weren't sure how Void could have gotten in there with them, but maybe Void had dribbled in through their helmet? They pushed a cautious hand to it, looking as best they could (through the distortions, the unholy warps of garish color that pressed in around their face) and tutted a bit at their poor vision. They couldn't find any cracks, the sharp spine that jutted out of the suit’s arm just below their wrist making the motions somewhat awkward (what was wrong with their suit? what was wrong with their _arm?_ ).

~~There was something horribly wrong with Ceres.~~

Ceres was safe, and loved. And they loved the being that loved them back.

They couldn't bring a name or a face or a voice to the memory of kind words and gentle fangs that bit down on them. But they recognized it when they felt the soft cold thing that filled their (mouth and nose and  ears, _they couldn't get it out_ and it was covering their eyes and they couldn't even see their) helmet start move.

 **_You are going somewhere, somewhere very far and very strange_ ** , something said into the wet place inside their skull. **_But we will be together, and you do not need to be_ **

~~Ceres was moving but it wasn't _them_ and they were terrified, they tried to blink but all they saw as a blur of black and purple, blue and pink swirls that didn't make any sense the more they looked, they wanted to go back to the dark, they were ~~

**_scared._ **

Ceres was not scared. They were in a new place, and the darkness was so much brighter here than they had known. There was Void behind them, pressed inside their skull like it belonged there, and they heard something tell them to be good.

They didn't understand, but that was okay. They blinked, and their vision cleared. There were things in front of them, three tall fleshy things with suits that looked like skin.

They didn't think that that they (understood that these were _people,_ Ceres knew that these were _people_ , and Ceres couldn't move and they couldn't talk and they were horribly, horribly afraid that they) knew what they were supposed to do.

 _Be good,_ they remembered, and obediently Ceres stretched their face wide open into a smile.

~~They were so, so sorry.~~

They were happy, that they remembered; things slipped their mind (as) easily (as if something had greased it, and they were terrified that someone had). There were other things here than just the three in front of them. Those three (the smart ones, and the one that had wave a hand in welcome) weren't being very interesting anymore.

There was a red one with a suit that flapped like a flag and spikes all over it that looked like their own, a blue one and an orange one that clung to each other with a puzzling amount of strength, a gray one that smelled like cinders even through their helmet, something gold and huge and radiating enough heat that even the space around it seemed to glow, and one that-

There was a planet, and they looked so familiar that Ceres’ breath caught in their chest.

They were drifting near the edge of the very bright patch of (not Void, just) darkness, seeming at first too wrapped in their thoughts to pay attention to the jerky movements of the thi-

Of the _people_ around them.

Ceres looked at them, and as the beige planet in the green clothes started to claw at their own face they remembered-

Centuries spent trying to puzzle out a language by lipreading and gestures, long years spent dreaming of stories that they were going tell as soon as they figured out how them.

Millennia spent so caught in their own head, unmoving, that they hadn't even noticed the way the planets had started to drift further from them, inch by inch, kilometer by kilometer, until they were left alone. Bitterness, and regret, and the hand signs they had so carefully thought through so they to be able to be seen even with Ceres’ thick suit weighing their hands down like lead.

Them, too far away to be seen, raising their open hand and curling their fingers closed, then open again. _Goodbye._

Light and warmth of their star at their back as they walked into the void, following the voice who had told them of her own daydreams. 

Ceres found themself frozen ~~with horror~~ as the enormous star darted to stand protectively in front of his planets, his skin billowing up with agitation until Ceres could barely see the planets behind him. They still couldn't move, the thing ~~in their helmet and inside their head~~ with them holding them still even as they could _feel_ vibrations rumble through them as the star spoke, ~~his rows of teeth flashing too deliberately for it to be anything but a threat.~~

~~Ceres was fighting, Ceres was fighting _so hard_ and they were trying to scream but they couldn't move their mouth and ~~

~~And Ceres was forgetting again and they fought and they hurt and~~

Ceres was

Ceres was trying to…

Ceres was trying very hard to not be afraid.

The star’s eyes were wild and panicked, and they'd spent too much time watching people to not see the way the muscles in his shoulder and wrist tightened an instant before he moved.

  
There was a green-tan planet somewhere just behind the star and in the last few seconds before something gold and white-hot started tear through them like they were nothing more than tissue paper, Ceres found themself thinking that they could have taught signs to a planet like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this how I headcannon things went down? No. But then, what I think doesn't work well with Saturn having a prominent role. (Sorry about their relatively sparse appearances in this; Ceres kind of hogged the spotlight by virtue of being the POV character... and also because I find Saturn hard to write since I really don't know much about them.)
> 
> And now seems as good of a time to say this as any: not all of these shorts will be compatible with each other, particularly the ones involving Black Hole and Ceres; there are so many ways to interpret them that I don't want to have to stick to a single one as the version that this series will be based off of. So if later installments contradict this one, it's all part of the plan, don't worry.


	8. Mercury - Sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long absence! Life happened to me, and hasn't stopped happening. I'm still a giant Nebula fan though, so here's another chapter.

“Uranus,” Mercury hissed, hand clenched into a fist as he paced, “Is the most arrogant, loud-mouthed, brown-noser I’ve had the misfortune to meet.” Beside him, Sun tilted his head and glanced down for a moment.

“They’re… very spirited,” Sun said after a moment. “Loud, sociable, undoubting for a moment of their own authority…" Sun's quiet voice turned sardonic for a moment. "They remind me a bit of another planet I know.”

“Yes, I know what you mean, sir. They and Venus are both smart-alecks,” he grumbled, a bit confused when Sun simply shook his head wryly, flickering brighter for a moment. He didn't presume to know the minds of his betters, of course. If Sun cared to explain his thoughts to Mercury, he was grateful; if he didn't, Mercury wouldn't be arrogant enough to demand him to.

“In any case, that’s simply how they are. I frankly don’t _care_ enough to loom over their shoulder and glare at them until they apologize every time they talk over someone,” he said, entirely reasonably. It was ridiculous to presume that someone of Sun’s stature would be concerned with someone like Uranus.

“You could tape their mouth shut until they learn some respect,” Mercury found himself suggesting anyway, tongue in cheek. He flushed as Sun drifted closer, the set of his broad shoulders and the curl of his flames loose and relaxed even as Mercury straightened up and tried focus on smoothing his tie instead of looking at him.

Sun was no doubt used to stares but centuries ago, he’d offhandedly said that he liked how Mercury just went over and talked to him instead of staring for a few hours before getting the courage to. He had felt like his core would turn molten again from the amount of heat that rushed into his surface at the thought that _Sun_ liked something about _him_.

No doubt it was a remark Sun didn’t even remember, but Mercury never forgot.

The flames curling over Sun’s skull straightened briefly into spikes as he snorted. “Uranus has had neither manners nor the ability to be quiet since the day they formed. It would be cruel.”

“So is having to watch them strut around like they own the planetary system,” Mercury groused, resisting the urge to make an uncouth gesture at the distant back of the planet in question. The _nerve_ of them, calling him such things...

Sun made a sound that violently hissed and it seemed to reverberate in the emptiness around the two of them, growing louder before fading. The instinctual urge to tense and back away was trampled down to dust by long familiarity. It was just a star's version of a sigh, and Mercury knew Sun well enough to not be afraid.

“No, Mercury.”

“But think of it, sir, for once we’d be able to hear ourselves think-”

_“Mercury”_ , Sun stressed, clicking each part of his name individually. He looked slightly amused, and like he was trying not to be.

Mercury raised his hands in concession, not quite as apologetic as he knew he probably should be when backing down from a superior. It was difficult sometimes, to keep the boundaries of deference and respect that Sun deserved, to not get arrogantly _familiar_ with the one person whose presence he outright enjoyed. “Alright, sir.”

“I appreciate it,” Sun said, and Mercury smiled as much as he dared. The heat in his face was just from being next to a fire, nothing more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I kind of imagine Mercury has a one-sided infatuation with Sun, who is supremely uninterested. Oh well.
> 
> (I swear, I do actually like Uranus, it's just that I get the sense that most of their neighbors don't.)


	9. Mars - Sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be part of something larger, but it didn't come out right.

For a long while, Sun didn’t pay any particular attention to Mars.

It wasn’t that he deliberately ignored them, because Sun wasn’t ever _not_ keeping half an eye on all eight of them. He was overprotective like that.

But Mars wasn’t the oldest or the youngest, they didn’t pick fights like Jupiter or ask about things they shouldn't like Earth. They stayed out of trouble and stayed out of the way, and for a long while Sun seemed content to leave it at that.

For the most part.

“Mars,” said a voice, and there was the sensation of burning by their ear.

Mars nearly jumped out of their mantel, vaguely registering Sun’s voice as coming from somewhere above and behind him, the sound of it smoother and quieter than the entity himself. They’d been aware of Sun’s presence; it was very difficult not to be aware of something brightly glowing in the dark. They hadn't realized he was there for _them_.

“Ah!”

Sun kept floating a polite distance from them as they startled (polite for Sun, which for safety was a bit farther than polite for everyone else). His left hand was half-raised and his fingers curled; his head was cocked slightly as he watched them.

Mars wasn’t Mercury: they really had no idea know how to read the body language of something whose skin billowed and sparked and periodically seemed to _flicker_. Sun could be concerned, or startled from Mars being startled, or had been planning on tapping him on the shoulder if they hadn't responded and was now disappointed at not having the excuse to burn them. Mars had no way of knowing.

“Sun. Yes,” they said when their heart slowed down enough to let them talk. “Is there something you need?”

“Yes. Actually,” Sun said, leaning down a bit to look them full in the face. Mars resisted the urge to squirm under the gaze of those enormous eyes, each about half the size of his own skull. It wasn’t exactly that they _disliked_ Sun, it was just that he was a very difficult person to be at ease around. “Is this a bad time?”

“No, it's fine,” Mars told him, tugging on the side of their cape to try and untangle it from where it'd caught on the spur of their elbow when they’d jumped. Mostly to give themself something to do; it's not like they gave a crap if the thing got another tear. “You just startled me a bit.”

Sun shrugged, possibly. His shoulders were jointed differently than a planet’s, angled vertical more than they were horizontal. The jerk could’ve just been a suppressed sneeze. “I wanted to ask you about your moon.”

Mars stiffened, pausing with their cape between their fingers. “...What about it, Sun?”

Sun sighed softly. While Mars couldn’t read his face, his tone didn’t sound amused. “You know perfectly well what,” he said shortly, and Mars tried to gauge whether they’d be able to bluff him or not.

“I-”

Without waiting for them to speak Sun leaned forward and in one swift motion took hold of their moon, cradling it in the palm of a hand. They gaped for a second, then tried their best to school their face back to neutrality. There was still a chance he wouldn’t find anything odd about it, so they might as well try and act like it. Maintain plausible deniability and all that.

Still, Mars felt themself frown as Sun inspected the moon. He was careful to avoid any skin contact with it, at least. Hopefully he would only singe it; Sun was usually pretty careful with other people’s things when he planned to give them back.

“Where did you get this?” Sun asked, testing its weight in his hand.

“I found it,” Mars replied blandly, ignoring Sun narrowing his eyes at them. If he wanted to be nonchalant, fine. Two could play that game.

“Where.”

Mars shrugged stiffly. “You know. Around,” they said and Sun deigned to finally look at _them_ instead of their moon.

He didn’t glare at them, exactly, because that's not how Sun ran things. Glaring means they've gotten to him, that he's been pulled down to their level, and their level is someplace Sun wouldn't be caught dead. It was kind of obnoxious.

“Don't play dumb, Mars,” Sun gritted out, stern and condescending.

Mars crossed their arms defensively. Their cape billowed out behind them, pushed by Sun’s solar wind. “I don't know what you're asking for,” they snapped.

Sun didn’t raise his voice back, just blinked slowly at him. For the first time, Mars wondered…

“Fine. I'll make this simple.”

Sun took a lazy step forward and Mars’ own step back wasn’t enough to keep the wave of heat from washing across them. They could feel Sun’s breath when he spoke, hot and utterly dry. Like the open door to the furnace.

“How old is the thing pretending to be your moon?”


	10. Pluto - Earth

It was difficult, being friends with people he’d never spoken to. A bit frustrating, a bit lonely. Sometimes, Pluto felt almost…

But it was alright. His friends were all very busy people! They just didn’t have the time to come all the way out over to him; it didn't mean they weren’t friends! And he didn’t begrudge them that, because he was their friend too. And it's not like he went out to them much either; he wanted to, sometimes, but halfway through he’d get too nervous and end up going back. 

...They never called for him to come back. Or acted like they missed him. But that was alright! They were just respecting his boundaries, like good friends should.

Earth never ignored him like the others did sometimes, though. Whenever she noticed him, she’d grin and wave at him. He’d smile back as wide as he could and wave in reply. It was almost like a conversation, and almost like a secret; Pluto saw the way she’d shrink back under Sun’s disapproving gave if he noticed her at it.

She still kept doing it, shrugging almost apologetically whenever she had to leave. Like she liked waving to him as much as he liked waving to her. It made Pluto feel... strange. Almost warm, in his core.

Even though all of them were his friends and he cared for them all (and he’d never say it aloud for fear of hurting their feelings), it was Earth who was Pluto’s best friend. He’d never had a best friend, and whole decade after he realized he had one he couldn’t stop the shocked smile on his face whenever their orbits brought them into each other’s lines of sight. He sort of wished he could ask if he was her best friend too.

Pluto wished for a lot of things, actually; it was sort of greedy of him, and he should probably stop. He wished Earth wasn’t so busy and always had to leave so soon; he wished he was brave enough to try again to strike up a conversation. He wished he could be a better friend to her. 

As it was, he tried his best to wave extra cheerfully at her when she floated slower after Mars or Jupiter snapped at her. It made her smile a bit sometimes when she wasn’t before, and Pluto counted that as victory enough on those days.

Sometimes she didn’t see him at all; sometimes she stared down at her toes and didn’t anyone’s eyes at all after a brush-off that Pluto was too far away to hear. Those days most of all, Pluto wished that he was brave enough to be a better friend. 


End file.
